Page 94 of The Beta's Blind Date

I bite my lip and tilt my head to the side. “Or I could just stay.”

He swallows, and his heart skips a beat under my hands. “Or you could stay,” he whispers, moving a hand to my cheek and wrapping his other arm around me to keep the blanket in place. “If you want to.”

“Why wouldn’t I want to?”

His thumb rubs my cheek, and he lowers his forehead to mine, his eyes closing. “I just want to make it clear it’s your choice. If you want to stay, you are, of course, welcome to stay. You can stay with me anytime. But if you want to leave, if you want me to drive you home, you just say the word and it’s done.”

My nose brushes against his, and I nuzzle in closer until our mouths are a breath apart. “I want to stay, Reid. I want to be at your side and in your arms.”

“Goddess, I want that too.”

He tilts my face back and presses his lips to mine, a soft, slow dance of a kiss so different from our first. That kiss was fire and brimstone, explosive and volatile. But this kiss is molten lava, crawling down the slopes of my soul, seeping into the cracks and crevices of my heart and filling them until they’re unnoticeable.

I melt into him, opening my mouth, letting his tongue swipe against mine. He teases it, grazing it, instead of deepening our connection, and yet somehow, this kiss is more soul-shattering and breath-stealing than any kiss I’ve had before. This kiss is a promise, with more emotion and depth poured into it than I would have thought Reid capable of.

He pulls back, then pecks my lips again before kissing the tip of my cold nose and my forehead. Then his lips twitch. “See? I can kiss you just fine.”

I swat at him and roll my eyes. But I lean my forehead against his sternum and speak into his chest, my hands clutching his lapels. “I’m sorry I didn’t let you explain before. I shouldn’t have just taken off like that. I even told myself I wouldn’t run away from you again just because of my inner insecurities. But I’ve been so emotional and up in my head about everything these last few weeks, and even more so since my wolf wouldn’t shift that I overreacted.”

“I know. I understand. A lot happened to you in a very short amount of time. I wanted to drive up there and demand you listen to me, but I knew you needed some space to cool off and gather and process your thoughts and your emotions. I didn’t want to push you away more by being overbearing.”

“Thank you. The fact that you understand me so well, I—” I shake my head, blowing out a breath. It makes little sense how this male who has spent so many of his adult years wooing and bedding females, is so intuitive to my needs and my emotions. But maybe that’s just part of his charm, part of his tricks.

I shake my head again and look up at him, banishing those intrusive thoughts from my brain. No more. No more will I let myself think he’s using me. He said he would mess up, and he agreed to baby steps, so I have to trust him and build his trust in me, too. “I promise I will let you explain tonight, and I won’t jump to any conclusions. I will hear you out.”

“Good,” he murmurs.

He lowers his lips to mine once more. A brief kiss, a quick press of lips together, but just as warm and just as meaningful as the others.

Because it’s a kiss from him. From the male who doesn’t kiss females. And because I’m the one he’s kissing, instead of some other female. He’s given me his kisses, given me glimpses of the teddy bear, the broken man who needs to be loved as much as any other male beneath the rough, swaggering playboy exterior. He lets his walls down when he’s with me, and I treasure every peek I get of who he is beneath the layers.

“Come on. We should head to the dance floor. Haven and Wesley are about to have their first dance as a married couple,” he says, wrapping the blanket tighter around me and stepping away.

I gather the fabric in one hand and slip my other through the gap, lacing my fingers with his as we make our way back to the party.

Together.

Chapter 33

REID

WithTaryn’shandclaspedin mine, we walk into the second reception tent. The press of her palm sends sparks shooting up my arm, straight into my heart. We enter the tent as Haven and Wesley begin their first dance to Ed Sheeran’s “Perfect,” and we pause at the edge of the crowd to watch them.

I pull her in front of me, hooking my chin over her shoulder and wrapping an arm around her waist to tuck her against my body.

It may be selfish of me to hold her and keep her this way, knowing what I’m going to say to her later tonight, knowing it may all blow up in my face once she knows the truth, but I need her. I need her like I’ve never needed anything before in my life.

“What about Dominic?” Taryn whispers, turning her face to my ear.

“He can go fuck himself.”

She sighs and gives me a look, one brow raised, no amusement in her eyes. “Reid.”

“What?”

“I am still part of his pack. He’s still my alpha.”

“And you’re doing nothing wrong,” I remind her. “You came with him as his friend. And I’m your—”

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